81st Anniversary: Soviet Berlin Offensive Launched April 16, 1945

Historians and commemorative events marked the 81st anniversary of the Soviet Berlin Offensive (Operation Berlin), which commenced at 5:00 AM on April 16, 1945 with a massive artillery barrage along the Oder-Neisse line. Marshal Georgy Zhukov's 1st Belorussian Front and Marshal Ivan Konev's 1st Ukrainian Front — comprising 2.5 million Soviet troops, 6,250 tanks, and 7,500 aircraft — launched the final assault on Nazi Germany's capital. The Berlin Offensive culminated in the encirclement and capture of Berlin by May 2, 1945, ending the war in Europe days later. The Soviet War Memorial at Tiergarten in Berlin, built in 1945 with marble from Hitler's demolished Reich Chancellery, remains a major site of commemoration. Russian state media and military history publications observed the anniversary with detailed coverage of the operation's strategic significance.